| Article by Frank N. Potter |
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Flummoxed by a Fortune Kookie by Frank N. Potter Last fall (guess who) got a call from someone who sounded like a nice young lady ... who told me that she found my phone number in a most arduous and roundabout manner...and that she was Sheryl Nance-Nash...and that she was calling from Fortune---which magazine intended to publish an article about Moxie. VAH VOOM! Salivating at this Belle's great News, I more than eagerly promised her lots and lots and lots of help, help, help. But? Can you believe it? Miss N-N had never heard of my Moxie Mystique book! (Folks, I've long since learned that it's not much fun being famous if you're not well known.) From what Miss N-N finally had printed, it appeared to me that this nice young lady had not depended on me as her trusted mentor, but had slaked her journalistic thirst by sipping several fonts on unfortunate misinformation. When Miss N-N received the copy of Moxie Mystique that I promptly sent her, she selected several illustrations from the book and asked for copies of them; in particular, one showing Moxie's ill-fated dimple bottle. But Miss N-N wanted a photo of the bottle itself --- not one showing a blonde or brunette holding such a bottle (pp 55 and 56, MM). Why Not? Perish forbid* that I should ever attempt to fathom some strange woman's peculiar personal proclivities! *Tactiturn New Englanders are well known for their economy of words. Moxie-drinking Calvin Coolidge, when asked by his father what a certain preacher's sermon was about, replied "Sin." When his father then wanted to know what the preacher had said about sin, Calvin answered "He was against it." My grandmother, a beloved but tight-fisted Yankee, saved her breath by reducing "Perish the thought!" and "God forbid" to simply "Perish forbid!" Be that as it may, as time passed, the truth snuck out from under my blinding cloud of euphoria. Moxie was NOT destined to become Fortune's Tot! No indeed! It was merely to be the last-page item in Your Company "The Magazine for Small Business," a periodical mailed to holders of American Express credit cards. At the bottom of Your Company masthead, in itsy-bitsy print, I discover that I -- and everybody else, I suppose -- dasn't reproduce a thing from this esteemed magazine without written permission. I won't quote from it verbatim, that's for sure. Still, there's more than one way to skin a cat; but no way that a cat likes! What's the connection with Fortune? Well, let's see what can be figured out. The masthead tells me that Your Company is produced by the American Express Publishing Corp. (This is in bold-face all-caps.) Below this, again in that tiny print, I read (I'm reproducing this at my own risk...not exactly a reproduction sort of offense) "Your Company is published six times a year by Time Inc." And who doesn't know that Fortune belongs to Time, Inc." "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive!" My grandmother used to fling at me. But who's fibbing here? Not Time Inc.! At the very bottom of that masthead is Time Inc. in big black fat lettering. AT the right, beside this, is a black quarter-inch square with..get out your magnifying glass. AMERICAN EXPRESS in black on white strips. Beside all this on the right it reads Publishing. This at the bottom might satisfy most folks; but, because us Moxie people are at all particular, I've gone to the trouble of dishing up a mess of particulars for you. Meanwhile, back at the ranch: Who's the fibster? is (or was) Miss N-N a writer for Fortune? No matter, really; what takes the rag off the bush is that she danged well snookered me! Still, I've always been gullible for gals. This time, it wasn't much fun. Let me, for the moment, mount my white charge and honor Mis N-N's true credentials: She is (or was at the time we are dealing with) one of Your Company's "Writers." The other one...only two are listed...is also, I presume, a nice young lady. The sole "Senior Writer" somehow happens to be a man. Merciful Heavens! Why did (does?) Miss N-N indulge in her fatuous kooky fibbing about being a Fortune writer? What does this do for her? Is there a psychiatrist in the house? But, enough! Let's get back to the business at hand, shall we? How much text can anyone put on one page with several illustrations? Not much, you betcha! So I send Miss N-N only that nice color photo of the Moxie Man. As for the text, you NEMC Senators et al can have a cognoscente's fun picking it apart if you are so inclined. As for me, I'll simply confine myself to only one comment... and I shan't quote her verbatim of course. Miss N-N claims that Moxie manages to be sold sans any foofaraw or other sales promotion; and she goes on to say that its sales don't amount to much. What does she know? What we do know is that Moxie sales are doing rather well because of the considerable publicity generated by the activities of the New England Moxie Congress and other Moxie buffs. And, if I may be pardoned for tootn' my own horn, after the appearance of the Moxie Mystique, the sale of Moxie soon more than doubled. In Maine alone, sales increased more than 500 percent...thanks in large measure to Frank Anicetti. How much Monarch appreciates all this is a moot question indeed. If you'd like a copy of this particular issue of Your Company, you might try asking for one; but don't request a reprint of simply the article, because their minimum for reprint orders is 1,000. Speaking of collecting Moxie articles and what to look for, I'll send Peter a list of the ones I've published...of which there have been quite a few, with more to come, I hope. My first one was published in 1970. (See Moxie World's "by Frank Potter" under articles published) For those of you who have been urging me to come up with yet another book about Moxie, I'm working on one. In fact, the bulk of it already exists. It is the transcriptions of two ninety-minute tapes of conversations. I had with Orville Purdy...and you certainly know who he was? As all of you must know, a lot went on behind the scenes; and this, I assure you, will make mighty interesting reading in "Orville Purdy Talks About Moxie." I'll do my best to have copies of this available by the time Moxie Days come around in July. They won't cost much but will be Chock Full O'Nuts...by which, I mean they'll contain much more than a kernel of thruth. (See Moxie World's "Products" under by AJ Productions) Cordially, "Colonel Moxie" Reprint from: Nerve Food News - New England Moxie Congress; Spring 1999 |